Construction of traveling building

ABSTRACT

A trailer for transporting a stack of roof elements and for subsequently supporting the roof elements in edge-to-edge relationship in essentially a single horizontal plane, said trailer comprising a generally horizontal rectangular platform carrying an upstanding pillar at each of at least two adjacent corners; a support arm pivoted at one end to the upper end of each pillar for swinging movement in a horizontal plane between an at-rest position parallel to the platform and a working position in which the two arms are at right angles to the platform and parallel to each other so that roof elements may be inserted between the arms, each arm being provided with at least one lengthwise support groove for slidably receiving and supporting a cooperating part of each of a plurality of roof elements.

A United States Patent 1191 Pasquier 1111 3,s15,297 1451 June 11, 1974CONSTRUCTION OF TRAVELING BUILDING lnventor: Yves Pasquier, Les Lilas n11,

Residence Charcot Spanel, Cherbourg, France Filed: Sept. 25, 1972 App].No.: 291,544

Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 24, 1971 France 71.34397 US. Cl52/64, 52/73, 52/143 Int. Cl E04b 1/343 Field of Search 52/143, 6, 7,71,64, 127,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1966 Heise 52/73 X ll/1968Brell 52/143 X 12/1968 Jaffe 52/73 X 6/1969 Caffa et a1. 52/108 XPrimary Examiner-Price C. Faw, Jr.

Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [57] ABSTRACT 1position in which the two arms are at right angles to the platform andparallel to each other so that roof elements may be inserted between thearms, each arm being provided with at least one lengthwise supportgroove for slidably receiving and supporting a cooperating part of eachof a plurality of roof elements.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 3815297 SHEET 10F 2 PATENTEUJUH 1 I 1974hmfi R R E w w R @vS/M Q 1 MG RE PAIENTEDJHNH I914 3.815297 SHEEI an: 2

CONSTRUCTION OF TRAVELING BUILDING The present invention relates to theconstruction of traveling buildings, i.e., to buildings that are put upand taken down rapidly for transporting on the road. Many varieties ofbuildings of this type exist; there can be cited in particular, moveablefacilities such as traveling skooter, rinks, dance floors, theaters andcinemas, field hospitals used by the army, construction shacks ortemporary storehouses, exposition halls, etc.

The invention relates more particularly to the putting up, taking downand arranging of roof elements for shipping. In the followingexplanation, for reasons of clarity, reference will be made moreparticularly to the case of a traveling skooter rink, but it isunderstood that the use of the invention is in no way limited by thiscase.

As is known, a skooter rink essentially consists of a track, generallyrectangular in shape, surrounded by pillars connected at their upperpart by beams on which rest the roof elements supporting the powerintake grid for the trolleys of the electric vehicles.

It is also known how to use transparent or translucid elements, often ofpolyester, to make the roof. Each of these elements generally has theshape of a trough turned upside down with a bottom bulging outward withtwo divergent plane side walls, and, at the time of placement, thetroughs are connected by interlocking of their edges. Of course, theroof should be rainproof and protect from the rain the spectators whoare on the peripheral walk and in front of the railing.

for shipping, the polyester elements, after the roof has been takendown, are superposed and fitted on to one another'on a bed of a trailer,which also carries an elevator system assuring the vertical movement ofthe elements. a

At thetime of installation or taking down of a rink, all the operationsof handling, placement or dismounting of the roof elements are partlyperformed by this elevator, partly manually. Consequently, the timespent for putting up, taking down and putting such a roof up again isalways considerable and prejudicial to traveling organizations whosemaneuvers must be as fast and efficient as possible.

The present invention is proposed to perform the putting up, taking downand stacking of the roof elements for shipping by semi-automatic meansrequiring minimum handling time.

It has for its object a trailer for transporting stacks of roofelements, particularly of polyester, and which can be used for puttingup and taking down this roof, characterized in that the rectangularplatform of the trailer carries at each corners a post at the top of.which is connected an arm able to pivot 90 in'a horizontal plane topass from a position of rest lengthwise to the sideboard of the trailerto a perpendicular working position outside the trailer and back again,each arm being provided with lengthwise grooves in which, at the time ofputting up and taking down of the roof, can roll guide and supportrollers, carried by the end sections of the polyester elements, and thisoccurs at the level corresponding to that of its roof.

However, it is necessary to consider the different cases posed bydifferent types of buildings which are the following:

a. The trailer, by its platform, is made a part of the track and isplaced in the middle of the track.

b. The trailer is a part of the track and is at one end of the track.

c. The trailer is independent of the track, but it is temporarily placedat the end of the track at the time of putting up and taking down theroof.

First, it will be assumed that the first case mentioned above isinvolved and in the following explanation, there will be described theputting up and taking down of a roof made. up of eleven elements, withreference to the accompanying drawing.

In this drawing:

FIG. [is a plan view of the track of the rink with its peripheral walk.

' FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the chassis of the trailer with asideboard laid horizontal and showing the device according to theinvention, supposed at rest, for putting up and taking down the rinkroof- FIG. 4 is a partial view in section of the rink roof showing thelateral sliding of a polyester element along the arm of the deviceaccording to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a lengthwise section of a completed assembled roof.

As shown in FIG. 1, corresponding to case a) mentioned above, there canbe seen platform 10 of the trailer with sideboards 11 and 12 laidhorizontal; the rest of the rectangular track is made up of a pavementof sheets 13 forming a sort of staggered arrangement on both sides ofthe sideboards. The track then is made up of the platform and sideboardsof the trailer with sheets 13; it is surrounded by a peripheral woodwalk 14 sepa rated from the track by a rail 15, for example, a drawnsheet strip put. up around the track.

In FIG. 2, can be seen the floor or platform 10 of the trailer with thetwo sideboards 11 and 12 raised vertically. The 11 roof elements arestacked on anelevator 16 which is driven, at the time ofthe up and downmovements, by a motor, not shown, or a hand winch;

the end of the power intake grid 17, in a roll on the platform, is alsoattached to this elevator, which is supposed here to be a frame forsimplifiication.

The l l polyester elements all have the same general shape of anupturned trough; but in FIG. 2 there should be distinguished the upperfive elements 18 forming the 7 right part of the roof, the followingfive elements 19 forming the left part and the last lower element 20being the roof of the trailer.

The right edge of each element 18 ends in a small gutter 21 serving forrunoff of the rain and tight fitting on the left edge of the adjacentelement; the left edge of each element 19 has the same shape of asmallgutter 22 playing the identical role on the left side of the roof;finally, element 20 above the trailer is provided on each side with thesame small gutter 23, 24 to assure, with runoff of the rain, theconnection. between the left and right parts of the roof.

The assembled roof therefore in section has, crosswise to the polyesterelements, the profile shown by HG. 5 and the dimensions are such thatthe roof, extended peripherally by eaves, assures protection from theweather for the track and its walk; gutters 21, 22, 23 and 24 should besloped slightly to facilitatecollecb ing of the water toward theoutside.

Generally each roof element isprovided with two neon tubes to light thetrack at: night; placement of these tubes is such that it is notnecessary to remove them during stacking for shipping-,in FIG. 2 areshown by 25 these lighting tubes for the ensemble of the roof elements.

In the perspective view of FIG. 3, the trailer is assumed to be loadedbut stopped on a site where the rink will be built; for better showingof the organs of the device for putting the roof in place, onlypolyester elements l9 constituting the left part of the roof are shown.

Elevator 16 is. in the low position, while only sideboard 11 of thetrailer is vertical.

The trains of carrying wheels 26 can be seen under platform and alsojacks 27 can be seen which serve to regulate the horizontal position ofthe plane 'of the platform; en route, these jacks are lifted and fixedunder the platform. v

The device for putting in place the roof elements is made up of fouridentical pillars 28 mounted at the four comers of the platform; each ofthese pillars is surmounted by a vertical shaft serving as the end pivotof a horizontal arm 29 which can be a trellis girder whose lengthcorresponds to that of the portion of the roof to be supported; on eachside of the trailer, the two adjacent arms 29at rest are placedhorizontal against one another and lengthwise to the plane of thesideboard; each sideboard is connected to an elevator not shown, at eachend by a taut cable passing through a pulley attached to' the upper partof adjacent pillar 28; there is shown in the figure a single cable 30passing through corresponding pulley 31; thus the raising of thiselevator will automatically cause the progressive bending out of thesideboards in the horizontal plane of platform 10.

There is shown on the left side of FIG. 3 the position of one of arms 29in the working position, after having pivoted horizontally 90 in thedirection of arrow 29a.

FIG. 4 shows, in a section perpendicular to one of arms 29 in workingposition, how any element 18 or 19 form the same maneuver with thefollowing element and so, both on the right and left side of the roof.During assembly, care is taken that all the roof elements areinterlocked successively, as indicated by FIG. 5.

Passage from the stack position to the position of FIG. 5 can befacilitated by use of an intermediate crosspiece mounted temporarilybetween two adjacent pillars 28. The end of grid 17, fastened to theelevator, is at the same time in high position, the roll being partlyunwound; the grid is then unwound and fastened under the roof, the eavesare put in place and the track laid and the accessory installationsarranged.

Later disassembly of the roof and grid will be performed by an exactlyopposite maneuver, the elevator being in the high position at the start.

The embodiment just described is in no way limiting of the invention onthe following points:

I. Placing of the trailer lengthwise to the track can be in any way andthe length of arms 29 is established in relation to this. In particular,if the trailer is placed at one end of the track (case b, cited above),only the arms of two pillars 28 adjacent to the track will be used andthese arms should obviously have a length greater than that of thetrailer. In this case, each arm, to be placed in rest position, shouldbe in two articulated sections that can fold against one another; theplatform and sideboards of the trailer can be incorporated or not in thetrack and its surroundings.

2. According to a variant of the invention, the trailer can beindependent of the track and can be used simply for transporting theroof elements and the device for mounting it (case 0, cited above).Outside the installation of the rink, the trailer is placed at the endof the track and, for example, arms 29, deployed in the working positionare disconnected from'pillars 28'after anchoring to the pillars of theend of the track.

Further, in this case, elevator 16 can be replaced by a lifting cranecarried by the trailer to lift the successive is guided and'supportedduring and after assembly of the roof. 1

As shown by this figure, each arm carries laterally two lengthwiserolling grooves 32, 33 directed toward the inside in relation tothe'track (working) or the trailer (rest). Each roof element (18, 19) isprovided at each end with rollers 34 with a vertical shaft and rollers35 with lengthwise shaft intended to work with these grooves: rollers 34assure the guiding by rolling in the bottom of upper groove 32, whilerollers 35 assure carrying by rolling between the walls of lower groove33; in general, each element l8, 19 will be provided on the end sectionwith a pair of rollers 34 and 35 placed symmetrically at the end of thedivergent walls of the trough.

Putting the roof in place is then performed under the followingconditions: the trailer being parked as indicated by FIG. 3, the frame(pillars and crosspieces) of the rink is previously assembled. Then,successively each arm 29 is put in the working position where they cometo rest on the end supports; then elevator 16 is raised one step, i.e.,until the first element 18 is at the horizontal level of the roof, therollers being opposite the entry of the grooves; this element is shovedor pulled toward the right, it is rolled and guided into correspondinggrooves 32 and 33 until its final placement in the roofielevator '16 israised a second step to perelements of the roofto the level of thesliding grooves.

3. It should be recalled, as was stated at the beginning of the presentdescription, that the invention is applicable to anyportable buildingother'than a skooter rink.

It goes without saying that it is possible, without going outside thescope of the invention, to make any modifications in the embodimentsthat have just been described.

In particular, whereas it has been envisaged to use the means employedby the invention to cover portable buildings, the invention alsoobviously applies to stationary buildings such as, for example, thosewhich at certain periods, seasons, or even periods of the day, have tobe covered or uncovered temporarily. As a non-limiting example, swimmingpools or green houses could be equipped with such removeable roofs.

I claim: 7

1. A trailer for transporting a stack of roof elements and forsubsequently supporting the roof elements in edge-to-edge relationshipin' essentially a single hori zontal plane, said trailer comprising agenerally horizontal rectangular platform carrying an upstanding pillarat each of at least two adjacent corners; a support arm pivoted at oneend to the upper end of each pillar for swinging movement in ahorizontal plane between an at-rest position parallel to the platformand a working position in which the two arms are at right angles to theplatform and parallel to each other so that roof elements may beinserted between the arms, each arm being provided with at least onelengthwise support groove for slidably receiving and supporting acooperating part of each of a plurality of roof elements.

2. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein the arms are trellis beams.

3. A trailer as in claim 1 including a side board hinged to eachlongitudinal edge of the platform for swinging movement between avertical position and a horizontal lateral position.

4. A trailer as in claim 1 including elevator means forming part of thetrailer for raising a stack of room elements upwardly from the platformso that each roof element can be brought in sequence to the elevation ofthe arms.

5. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein said arms are re movable from theirrespective pillars.

6. A trailer as in claim 1 in combination with a plurality of roofelements having a length and width about equal to the length and width,respectively, of the platform, each roof element having means at itsends for cooperating with the support grooves in said arms.

7. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein each roof element has the shape of aninverted trough, one longitudinal edge of the trough being shaped as arain gutter and the cooperating with respective grooves.

1. A trailer for transporting a stack of roof elements and forsubsequently supporting the roof elements in edge-to-edge relationshipin essentially a single horizontal plane, said trailer comprising agenerally horizontal rectangular platform carrying an upstanding pillarat each of at least two adjacent corners; a support arm pivoted at oneend to the upper end of each pillar for swinging movement in ahorizontal plane between an at-rest position parallel to the platformand a working position in which the two arms are at right angles to theplatform and parallel to each other so that roof elements may beinserted between the arms, each arm being provided with at least onelengthwise support groove for slidably receiving and supporting acooperating part of each of a plurality of roof elements.
 2. A traileras in claim 1 wherein the arms are trellis beams.
 3. A trailer as inclaim 1 including a side board hinged to each longitudinal edge of theplatform for swinging movement between a vertical position and ahorizontal lateral position.
 4. A trailer as in claim 1 includingelevator means forming part of the trailer for raising a stack of roomelements upwardly from the platform so that each roof element can bebrought in sequence to the elevation of the arms.
 5. A trailer as inclaim 1 wherein said arms are removable from their respective pillars.6. A trailer as in claim 1 in combination with a plurality of roofelements having a length and width about equal to the length and width,respectively, of the platform, each roof element having means at itsends for cooperating with the support grooves in said arms.
 7. A traileras in claim 1 wheRein each roof element has the shape of an invertedtrough, one longitudinal edge of the trough being shaped as a raingutter and the other edge being shaped to rest in the rain gutter of anadjacent roof element.
 8. A trailer as in claim 6 wherein the means onthe ends of the roof elements for cooperating with the support groovesin said arms includes rollers.
 9. A trailer as in claim 8 wherein eachsupport arm includes two support grooves, one facing upwardly and theother facing horizontally and wherein each end of each roof elementcarries first and second rollers for cooperating with respectivegrooves.